New York State Attorney General Letitia James is trying to force former President Donald Trump and two of his children, Don Jr. and Ivanka, to give testimony about multiple financial dealings each was involved with at the Trump Organization.

James wants to pursue an investigation, but has yet to launch any legal action. Her office claims it has evidence that the Trump Organization “used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions.”

The Trumps have refused to testify or answer subpoenas and Donald Trump has called the investigation a partisan witch hunt, citing James’ status as a Democrat to support his claims. Each of the Trumps named were allegedly involved in the financial dealings highlighted by the AG’s office, and their input could supply evidence to decide who can be held culpable.

Donald Trump has successfully delayed the investigation since 2019 through various legal maneuvers. While James seems to be close to taking action, she has yet to file any lawsuits or criminal charges against any members of the Trump family or the Trump Organization.

“The Trumps must comply with our lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony because no one in this country can pick and choose if and how the law applies to them,” James said in a press release from the AG’s office.

Members of the Scottish Parliament voted down a motion calling for the probe into the Trump Organization's two Scottish golf courses, including the Trump Turnberry hotel and golf resort, using an "unexplained wealth order"
Members of the Scottish Parliament voted down a motion calling for the probe into the Trump Organization's two Scottish golf courses, including the Trump Turnberry hotel and golf resort, using an "unexplained wealth order" AFP / Andy Buchanan

James alleges that Donald Trump misstated objective facts, like the size of his Trump Tower penthouse, the process by which Trump and his associates reached valuations and the involvements of “outside professionals” in reaching valuations. She also alleges that Donald Trump miscategorized assets outside of the organization’s control as “cash.”

The Trumps allegedly did not use “fundamental techniques of valuation . . . to impute valuations from public sales data,” the report said. They also did not disclose that there were valuation amounts inflated for “brand value.”

Properties and assets named by the AG’s office include Seven Springs and the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, the Trump Tower Triplex, the Trump International Gold Club in Scotland, “the Trump Brand,” Trump Park Avenue and 40 Wall Street.

The investigation from the AG’s office started after Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified to Congress in 2019, saying that Trump was inflating or deflating the value of assets to obtain tax benefits, loans or insurance coverage. Since then, the investigation has been ongoing, and the Trump Organization only recently started to hand over documents to the AG’s office.

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